Before we left for the AADE conference last week, we had several requests for more info about the new FDA-approved Spring universal infusion set.
We reported on the company and their new infusion set AND insulin pump from the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Sessions in June. Their insulin pump, the Spring Zone, has been submitted for CE mark, but since it’s not yet FDA approved, we were not able to film anything on that new product. However, we did take a closer look at their newest commercially available product, the Universal Detach Detect Infusion Set. Zoe Myers, Chief Commercial Officer at Spring and a fellow type 1, was kind enough to give us a live demonstration of how the new infusion set works, with some tips on what makes it unique:
The infusion set is available through Edgepark, Spring’s US distributor. It is covered under most major insurances, and is billed under the same code as other infusion sets. Zoe says that Edgepark handles all insurance billing for patients. The only caveat with the Spring universal infusion set is that it requires an adapter to work with Medtronic insulin pumps, because of Medtronic’s proprietary patented infusion set technology.
If you’ve tried the new Spring infusion set, we’d love to know what you think. Does the special error detection technology really make you feel safer?
Thanks, this looks very interesting. I’ll to get a few and try it out. I assume the tubing is available in the normal lengths.
Thanks for showing this.
For those who have a problem inserting their infusion sets or losing their infusion sets due to perspiration, catching the tubing, etc., this could be a good solution. I worry that there is a lot of packaging inherent in having the inserter as part of each set.
(BTW, there is a typo on the video intro: “Diabete[s]Mine”)
Cheers,
Mike
I heard from Bill (1HappyDiabetic.com) that there is something that shuts off the delivery of insulin if this set gets ripped out, thus triggering the blockage alerts in most pumps (depending on volume of insulin pumped). That alone could be a big deal to some users. No idea how it works, but it might be worth investigating if you have trouble like that often.
Scott…
As someone who doesn’t use a lot of insulin, I’m not very keen on that feature. I’ve never had an occlusion alarm go off because most of my boluses are under the required limit to set one off. This feature would actually be worse, because rather than getting less insulin than I’m supposed to be, I’ll be getting none.
To Michael, above, and anyone else who is worried about the packaging – there is a study that was published in the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology that quantifies the amount of waste produced by each infusion set. I would recommend checking it out. The link to the abstract is here:
http://journalofdst.org/July2011/PDF/Abstract/VOL-5-4-SYM2-PFUTZNER-ABSTRACT.pdf
It’s good to finally see an analysis of this!
Can we get any samples from them yet? Their web site only seems to have European distributors listed. I’m ordering from Neighborhood Diabetes, and they’ve not heard of this set yet. I cannot wait to try it out.
You can order them from Edgepark, which is their US distributor. I’m not sure if they are sending out samples, but you might be able to contact corporate to find out.
Can anyone help me with understanding how ‘universal’ this product is with respect to Medtronic pumps? The Paradigm reservoir will not accept the standard luer lock used with other pumps/infusion sites. I have left a phone message and an email with Spring a week ago and have not received any responses.
The Spring web site makes both the tape/adhesive and occlusion alert features sound very promising, but I don’t understand if I need to find alternative reservoirs, of some level of adaptor to use these on my daughter’s Paradigm/Revel.
i called and received 2 samples from the distributor here in Ontario. i must say, i am not a big fan of these infustion sets. i find there seems to be alot of steps to actually getting these on. and although i do love the 360′ swivel feature, it does make the set sit higher off the body and it doesn’t swivel on its own (like the orbitmicro). i found that by the beginning of the second day, i was beginning to itch under the adhesive. also, they are bigger around than other sets i’ve tried. the ability of the set to block delivery at the site if the set becomes dislodged is perhaps worth having if you are into rough sports or something like that.
i think i’ll just stick to my Contact D’s.
To address the question of Rich and others, about how to use the “Spring Universal” on a Medtronic pump: visit the website of http://www.fifty50.com or call them at 1-800-746-7505. FIfty50 makes an insulin reservoir that is “designed exclusively for use with your Paradigm pump.” It has a luer-lock connection, so that means you can attach a Spring Universal infusion set. It comes in 1.8ml and 3.0 ml sizes. It comes with its own need and protective cover, and plunger. It can be substituted for the MMT 326A and MMT 332A reservoirs.